House Overlays

House Overlays (Transposed houses):

Synastry & Relationship Astrology

On our main Synastry page, we
offered an overview of considerations for compatibility. On our
Compatibility
Analysis page, we offered a weighting system for various
interchart aspects and positions. On the
More
on Synastry page, we explore more Synastry details and
compatibility factors. On our
Synastry
Books Compared page, we reveal our favorite books on
relationship astrology, and why we like them.

On this
page, we explore House Overlays in more detail.

House Overlays

When we look at interchart aspects,
we learn much about how two people in a relationship interact and
what kind of impact they have on one another. If we place the
planets and points of one chart into or around the other, we become privy
to important information about which areas of life this interaction
is concentrated, and how each person views the other person in more
specific terms.

Generating bi-wheel charts, such as
the ones pictured below, is helpful when we are studying house overlays.
Because it's a two-way affair, two bi-wheels can be usedone with
person A's chart in the center and person B's planets in the outside
wheel, and another bi-wheel with the reverse: person B's natal chart
in the center and person A's chart outside.

In the above example bi-wheel
chart, we have Britney Spears' natal chart in the center, inner
wheel, and we have overlayed Justin Timberlake's natal chart (his
planets and points are found in the outer wheel). This way, we can
easily see where Justin's planets and points fall in Britney's
chart. For example, we see that his Sun conjunct South Node fall in
her 5th house, at her Moon. We also see Mars and Mercury overlaying
her 5th house (Mercury is very close to her 6th house cusp). His
Moon conjunct Neptune overlay her 3rd house. His Saturn falls in her
1st house, near her Ascendant. His Ascendant falls in her 11th
house, and so forth.

With this information, we can see
more clearly and specifically how Justin impacts Britney.

The above chart is the reverse. We
have overlayed Britney's chart onto Justin's, whose chart is in the
middle. This bi-wheel chart helps us to visually discern where
Britney's planets and points fall in Justin's chart. We can see that
there are a number of Britney's planets falling in Justin's 4th
house, for examplenamely, Uranus, Mercury, and the Sun. Her
Neptune technically does fall in his 4th house, but it is tightly
conjunct his 5th house, so we consider her Neptune as overlaying his
5th house. You can also see that her Neptune falls on
his own Moon and Neptune conjunction. Now we have a clearer idea of
how and where Britney impacts Justin's life.

House overlays go two ways. If my
Sun overlays your sixth house, for example, you will view me as
useful. If my Sun interacts with your planets in a generally
challenging way, you may ultimately consider me to be
counter-productive or meddling. I awaken sixth house issues in you.
You may feel somewhat dependent on me in the areas of routines,
work, and everyday issues, especially since the Sun is a positive,
yang energy, and the sixth house has a yin, receptive energy. You
receive, and I give, which can set up a co-dependent relationship if
other factors in the synastry between us support this.

Another example: If your Sun
overlays my fourth house, you affect me in a very deep way. Because
you bring out a very needy feeling in me, it would be easy for me to
be extremely sensitive to your actions in our relationship.

It can take
students of astrology a bit of time to wrap their brains
around the concept of house overlays in synastry. In order to
get a clear understanding of the effects of house overlays (or
transposed houses as they are often called), I have
found it easiest to think about it this way: When somebody's
Sun or Moon (or other planet) falls in a particular house in
my natal chart, it is much like that person has the effect of
a permanent transit to that house in my natal chart! If your
Sun falls in my eighth house, for example, when I interact
with you, it is somewhat like the Sun is transiting my eighth
house, highlighting and illuminating 8th house issues for me.
Similarly, if my Sun falls in your third house, I have a
similar effect on your life as the Sun transiting your third
house.

Where the Moon falls in house
overlays can be very revealing as well, especially in intimate
relationships. I was consulted by a woman whose intimate friendship
with a man had ended, and she felt completely torn apart. Their
relationship wasn't lengthylasting perhaps 8-9 monthsbut it had
affected her to "the core of her being". She had had
longer relationships with men that ended, and she felt she recovered
from these more easily than she could from this comparatively brief
relationship. Of course, many factors are involved, but one stood
out for me, and it helps illustrate the importance of house overlays
in relationship analysis. Her Moon falls in his fifth house, and his
Moon falls in her fourth house (near the IC, the fourth house
cusp). His affection towards her impacted the very "core of her
being" (her words) in profound ways (fourth house/IC feelings!).
She felt dependent on him for emotional sustenance. When their
relationship ended, she felt what she expressed as "primal
anger", but predominantly a tremendous amount of hurt. He told
her that he was saddened that the relationship ended as well, but he
did not display the same kind of neediness and attachment to the
relationship that she did. He missed the good feelings they shared,
the laughs (fifth house feelings). He told her that no one he had ever met made him feel so
good about himself. She had been a very receptive audience to his
stories and jokes, and he expressed that he missed that aspect of
their relationship very much.

In the chart examples above, we can
see that Britney's Sun and Moon (and many other planets) fell in
Justin's 4th and 6th houses. These are both dependent, subjective, and
receptive houses. On the other hand, Justin's Sun and Moon fell in
Britney's 5th and 3rd houses, which are more outgoing houses. The
fifth house has much to do with ego and identity, as it is a fire
house, the house of Leo. The third house is another outgoing, active
house. It is the house of Gemini, and has a social and mental
quality to it. There is a clear imbalance represented here. I have
no idea what happened between them, but these overlays suggest to me
that the relationship affected Justin in a deeper manner than it did
Britney. Perhaps, to her, the relationship was more fun and games
than anything.

Very often, we hear of breakup
complaints in which one person feels used by the other, or accusations
that one person did not care as much as the other. House overlays
can be extremely illuminating for these situations. It can also help
us to understand and accept instead of accuse. Let's
say you and I were in an intimate relationship. If your planets fall
primarily in houses that are active, positive, and outgoing in my
chart, and my planets fall primarily in houses that are receptive in
your chart, you may ultimately feel "used" by me. You may
have impacted my identity, purpose, and ego more than anything,
while I may have cut much deeper in my effect on your life. Because
your very heart and soul were on the line, you may, in the end,
consider me to be rather heartless. However, if I was involved in a
relationship in which the tables were reversed, I might be the
sensitive one whose heart and soul were on the line. Most
relationships are more balanced than these examples. However, when
you do come across these basic incompatibilities in house overlays,
it should be noted as very significant.

The difference between the outgoing
houses and the receptive houses can be thought of as in terms of objectivity
versus subjectivity. A person whose partner's planets are
flanking his or her receptive houses is very subjective about the
relationship. It is very difficult for this person to be objective
or detached about the partner or the relationship.

We can also pay attention to the elements
associated with the houses. The 1st, 5th, and 9th houses are
fire houses, and have much to do with identity and ego. The 2nd,
6th, and 10th houses are earth houses, and are more practical and
material in nature. The 3rd, 7th, and 11th house are air houses, and
these houses have a social and mental nature. The 4th, 8th, and 12th
houses are water houses, and are emotional in nature. If I primarily
activate (let's say with my Sun and Moon and one or more other
planets) your earth houses, you may see me as a means to an end. You
may be dependent on me for material support or emotional security,
for example. Or, you may view me as particularly useful in your life.
How this plays out will
depend on how I react to this. I may feel like you see me as an
object rather than a person, and this may be difficult to deal with.
On the other hand, your seeming dependency on me could feel good to
me. Perhaps I feel more useful, and I am boosted by my relationship
with you as a result.

If I primarily activate your water
houses, my actions will have a deep impact on you. You will likely
be very sensitive to me, viewing me as someone with whom you need to
relate to intimately and profoundly. You may rely on me for
emotional support, for example. Again, how I respond to this can be
critical to the success of our relationship.

If I primarily activate your fire
houses, I will be integral in developing and perhaps transforming
your ego and identity. I may inspire and stimulate you to express
yourself and your creativity. You may see me as someone with whom
you can have a good time. If I primarily activate your air houses, I
may stimulate your social life, you may see me as a good friend, and
perhaps not much more than that! Although I generate warm and
friendly feelings in you, I may want a more profound relationship. I
may want to "get to you" more deeply, and I might feel
like your feelings for me are superficial. On the other hand, I
might enjoy the lightness and good feelings that this partnership
generates.

Let's say that there is a general
compatibility with the elements of the houses in overlays. This
should be a good thing, although if it is too concentrated, the
relationship may be unbalanced and lacking. For example, let's say
my Sun and Moon and many other planets primarily activate your water
and earth houses, and the same is true of your planets activating my
water and earth houses. We may view each other in similar ways, and
this can be a source of compatibility. However, in this case,
because the air and fire houses are not activated in either
direction, the relationship might easily become co-dependent and
challenging. We might function as a couple for years, but at some
point, either you or I (or both) might recognize the lack. The
relationship may seem too heavy and lacking in fun times (Fire) and
mental stimulation (Air).

Similarly, if there are stelliums
in each person's natal chart, we will find strong emphases on
particular houses in the overlays. If my stellium overlays your 11th
house, and your stellium overlays my 7th house, we are both
activating outgoing, air houses in each other. However, there can be
some disagreement nevertheless, as you may view me as a good friend,
while I see you as an ideal partnersomeone with whom I want a
rather exclusive partnership.

In our example near the beginning
of this article, when we compared a couple's Moon overlaying the 4th
and Moon overlaying the 5th, if we can expand our analysis by looking at the overall pattern of
the overlays, we can see why this couple had such misunderstandings
with regards to what the relationship was all about, and what
it meant to each person. Her planets primarily overlayed his 5th and
11th houses. Only one of her personal planets overlayed a receptive
house, the second house. Students of astrology may recognize these
houses as fixed ones. On the other hand, his planets primarily
overlayed her 4th, 6th, and 8th houses. She depended on him and
their relationship, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that the
impact of their break-up was so profound for her. With her planets
primarily overlaying his 5th and 11th houses, he saw her as a
friend, a romantic interest, and something rather light and casual
in comparison to how she viewed him. She responded to him with a lot
of emotion, and her dependency on him eventually wore him down. He
did not return those deep feelings. Although he truly liked her and
enjoyed her company, she wanted something more profound and
intimate, and they had to go their separate ways.

Perhaps ideally, there should be a
better spread of overlays over the elements of the houses, in
each of the two overlays. Otherwise, the
relationship may become burdensome and unfulfilling over time. Of
course, much depends on what is expected of the relationship. This
brings us to our bottom line:House overlays can reveal
whether or not there is a basic agreement on what each person
expects from the relationship and from each other. However, it
should be noted that even with
this compatibility and agreement, it does not tell us whether or not
the individuals involved will eventually outgrow the
relationship.

Note that in Love Formulas-2
by Nance McCullough, the author emphasizes that overlays of the Sun,
Moon, or Ascendant to the second person's 7th house are very
important in synastry. She feels that someone is most
attracted to a person whose Sun, Moon, or Ascendant falls in their
seventh house. She also suggests that many times when the attraction
is one-sided, it is the seventh house person who is the one who is
attracted. If the other person's seventh house isn't activated, he
or she may not return the feelings.

Note that I never underestimate the
power of house overlays (transposed houses) in synastry! In fact, it
is one of my first considerations when I do a relationship analysis.
When birth times are unknown or uncertain, I am disappointed that I
cannot apply this portion of the analysis to my reading, as I
consider it extremely revealing.